Palo Alto police arrest suspects in August 12 robbery

Two East Palo Alto residents were arrested Friday on suspicion of robbing a man at gunpoint near downtown Palo Alto earlier this month.

August 27, 2013 1:13:06 PM PDT

PALO ALTO, Calif. --

Two East Palo Alto residents were arrested Friday on suspicion of robbing a man of his wallet and laptop at gunpoint on a residential street near downtown Palo Alto earlier this month, police said Tuesday.

Palo Alto police detectives arrested Christopher Mailau Vea and Patrick Tupoumalohi, both 20, at a home in the 2400 block of University Avenue in East Palo Alto at about 1:15 p.m. Friday, police Detective Sgt. Brian Philip said.

Both were arrested on suspicion of robbery and booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail. Vea was also booked on a violation of his probation stemming from a 2011 felony conviction for first-degree burglary in San Mateo County, Philip said

After arresting the suspects, detectives served search warrants at their homes and recovered three realistic-looking black BB guns with the orange safety tips colored black, Philip said.

The robbery occurred at about 10:07 p.m. on Aug. 12 in the 100 block of Bryant Street, several blocks from University Avenue, Philip said.

A man in his 20s was walking on the sidewalk when the two suspects confronted him, pointed what appeared to be a black handgun at him, ordered him to the ground and stole his wallet, a bag containing his laptop, and small items from his pockets, Philip said.

A jogger saw the robbery from about a block away, came to the victim's aid and called 911 on his cellphone, Philip said.

Detectives later obtained surveillance video footage of the suspects using the victim's stolen credits cards at a local gas station and used it to determine their identities, Philip said.

Vea and Tupoumalohi are not considered suspects in a separate Aug. 15 robbery of a man who was with his young child at Robles Park, Philip said.